Hoisting-bucket.



W. THOMAS.

HOISTING BUCKET.

APPLICATION flLED'SEPT. 9. 1915.

1,200,274. Pateniped Oct. 3,1916.

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HOISTING BUCKET. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-Q. I915.

Patented Oct. 3, 1916.

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Mill/am Thomas A TTOHIVEYS 'UTE WILLIANL THOMAS, OF BEATRICE, NEBRASKA.

HOISTING-BUCKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1916.

Application filed September 9, 1915. Serial No. 49,683.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VVILLIAM THOMAS, asubject of the Emperor of Germany, and a resident of Beatrice, in thecounty of Gage and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and ImprovedHoisting-Bucket, of which the following is a full, clear, and. exactdescription.

My invention relates to a hoisting device designed particularly for thepurpose of receiving grain or similar loose material from a wagon fromwhich it is unloaded, and conveying the material into a crib, granary,bin or similar storage receptacle, and the object thereof is to providea particular construction of hoisting bucket into which the grain orother material is permitted to run, after which the bucket is hoisted bymeans of a suitable hoisting rope and is caused to travel along a trackprovided in the granary or building into which the material is to betransported and wherein it is stored.

The particular features of construction wherein my invention consistswill be hereinafter referred to in detail as the same is described.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in theimproved grain hoisting bucket and hoisting means therefor illustratedin the accompanying drawings described in the following specificationand particularly claimed.

Referring now to the drawings wherein the preferred embodiment of myinvention is illustrated, Figure 1 is a view showing my improvedhoisting bucket in side elevation and showing also the hoisting andcontrolling ropes associated therewith; Fig. 2 is a view illustratingthe hoisting bucket and the ropes for hoisting and controlling the same,and a track arranged within a building into which the material is to becarried; Fig. 3 is a view showing a section of my improved hoistingbucket upon a horizontal plane indicated by the line 33, Fig. 1, lookingdown; Fig. 4: is a view of my improved hoisting bucket taken upon avertical central plane indicated by the line 4 4L, Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 isa view showing a section taken upon a plane at right angles to the planeof Fig. 4, and upon a vertical plane indicated by the line 5-5, Fig. 4,looking toward the left.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference numeral 7 designates twoparallel support ng s sp ed part from one other and which bars supportthe bucket and through which the same and its contents are to andholding the vertical members 8 and horizontal members 7 at a properangle with reference to one another, as will be understood.

The reference numerals 11 designate angle iron bars, four of such barsbeing provided, the same being secured by rivets or otherwise to thesides of the iron ends 9 of the bucket, as will be understood from Fig.3, and to which angle iron corners the ends of the sides 12 of thebucket are secured, as will also be understood from Fig. 3, these sidesbeing preferably made up of a plurality of boards, as shown in Figs. 4and 5. One or more of the upper boards are preferably easily removablein order to vary the height of the side of the bucket so that it may bereadily adapted for use with wagons having their bottoms differentheights from the ground.

The side of the bucket body can be placed under the rear end of thewagon body from which the grain or other material is to be unloaded intothe bucket. I preferably provide two pieces of angle iron 38 at thetopsof the sides for protecting the edges of the top side boards, as bestshown in Fig. 1.

The sides and ends above referred to constitute an open-bottom structureor, body portion, rectangular in form, and supported through thevertical bars 8 and transverse bars 7 andcapable of being liftedthereby, and the open bottom of this bucket body is closed by twoswinging bottom sections or doors 13, the inner edges of which overlapwhen the bottom of the bucket is closed, as shown in Figs. land 3, andwhich doors are so supported from the body of the bucket that in openingthey move for the most part in a lateral direction, see Fig. 4:, thevertical movement of the meetingedges of the doors being comparativelyslight.

The doors or bottoms 13 are preferably formed of sheet metal and areprovided with upwardly extending flanges 14 at their sides and backwhich inclose the lower edge of the bucket body when the doors are intheir closed position, as shown in Fig. 1. The doors 13 are pivotallysupported by means of bars 15, 16, a pair of bars being provided at eachend of each of the swinging doors 13. The upper ends of these bars arepivotally supported on the body of the bucket adjacent the ends thereof,as shown at 1'7, suitable brackets 18 being provided for the upper endsof the pivotal supports, while the lower ends of said bars are bolted orriveted to the doors 13 at points 19 adjacent the opposite ends thereof.It, therefore, follows, because of the fact that the pivots 17 aboutwhich the doors swing are located some distance up from the lower edgeof the bucket body and adjacent the ends thereof, that a movement of thedoors in opening is for the most part lateral with reference to the bodyof the bucket and that the vertical movement of the doors iscomparatively slight even at the free meeting edges thereof, at whichpoint the vertical movement is the greatest. i

The reference numeral, 20 designates two gates located one at each sideof the bucket, said gates being secured to one of the swinging doors orbottoms 13 so as to be carried thereby, by means ofrivets 21. The gates20 partake of the swinging movement of the door to which they aresecured, as will be understood from Figs. 1 and f, and as the doorsswing into their open position, drop below the lower edge of the bucket,and serve to guide the'material as it passes from the bucket and toprevent the material from escaping sidewise, as will be understood.

The reference numeral 22 designates a retarding bar shown as angular inform and extending from side to side of the bucket, the ends of whichare supported in an adjustable manner from the sides of the bucket, aswill be understood from Fig. 4, wherein a plurality of holes 23 areshown as provided in one of the sides through various of which holes thebolts 24: may be passed, which bolts support the retarding bar throughright angle brackets, 25. The purpose of this retarding bar is to retardthe fiow'of material from the bucket when the doors are in their openposition, and, in order to retard the flow of material to a stillgreater extent, which is sometimes desirable in dealing with finematerial such as grain,

shelled corn, etc, I contemplate using retarding wings 26, four of suchwings being shown. The wings 26 are pivotally supported from theretarding bar 22 so that when the doors 1?) are in their closedposition, the wings may swing up into the position illustrated in dottedlines, Fig. 4, in

which case their free edges rest upon the doors 13. When the doors areopen, theretarding wings swing into the lowermost position in which theyare illustrated in full lines, in which case their lower edges occupypositions close to the upper surface of the doors 13. The retardingwings are supported from the retarding bar by means of angularextensions 27 provided at the upper ends of bars 28 secured to theretarding wings, and which extensions extend through openings 29provided in the retarding bar 22, as'shown in Fig. 1. This construction,it will be appreciated, permits the retarding wings to fold when thedoors are closed and provides a stop for limiting the downward movementof the wings as the free end of the bent portion 27 contacts with theinner surface of the angular retarding bar 22. It will be seen thatthese wings may be removed entirely from the bar by swinging them upwardand withdrawing the angular extensions 27 through the openings 29. Thepurpose of the retarding bar and wings, as explained, is to retard theflow of material from the bucket, the degree of retardation beingvariable by adjusting the retarding bar and by using therewith retardingwings, as many as may be found desirable. In cases where it is notdeemed necessary to retard the flow of material from the bucket, theentire retardingmechanism may be removed as it is secured in place, asabove explained, in such a way as to be easily detachable and removablefrom the bucket body.

The inner or meeting edges of the doors 13 are supported and the'doorsheld in their closed position by means of centrally located bars 30, thelower ends of which are pivotally connected with the doors throughbrackets 31 and the upper ends of which bars are pivotally connectedwith a vertically movable cross head 32, which cross head is adjustablysecured to a trip bolt 33 having a head 34, which head is engaged by atrip lever 35 when the doors are closed,

The cross head 32 has been referred to as adjustable, it being obviousthat by loosening the screws 36 carried by the cross head, the crosshead may be moved up and down upon the trip bolt 33 in order to soadjust the parts that the doors will be closed properly against thelower edge of the bucket when the head 34 is engaged by the latch 35.The opening in the cross head through which the trip bolt 33 passes isenlarged 'at its ends and contracted. to contact with the trip boltintermediate its ends at 37, see

Fig. 4, from which it will be obvious that the screws 36 may bemanipulated in such a way as to tip the cross head with reference to thetrip bolt. The purpose of this feature is to permit the doors to be soadjusted that they will close close against the lower edge of the bucketbody, this being accomplished by adjusting the cross head vertically,and furthermore to permit of adjustment so that the overlapping edges ofthe doors will properly contact with one another, this beingaccomplished by tipping the cross head, if necessary, upon the bolt bymeans of the screws 36 after its vertical position is properlydetermined, such tipping motion serving to move the overlapping edges ofthe doors toward or from one another, as will be appreciated.

The reference numeral 39 designates a guide and stop member throughwhich the lower end of the trip bolt 33 extends, the ends of which stopmember are supported by means of bars 40, the upper ends of which aresupported from the cross bars 7, the connection between the ends of thestop member 39 and the bars 40 being adjustable in order that thevertical position of the stop member may be varied, this adjustmentbeing secured by means of a plurality of holes 41 provided in thesupports 40 through any of which holes the bolts which secure the guide39 to the supports may pass.

A spring 42 surrounds the trip bolt 33 and is interposed between thecross head 32 and the guide 39 so that as said cross head moves downwardafter the trip bolt has been released by the latch 35, its movement iscushioned through the spring referred to. The purpose of making theguide 39 adjustable is to provide for varying the opening movement ofthe doors 13, as it is obvious that the lower the position of saidguide, the

greater will be the opening movement of the doors in question.

The reference numeral 43 designates a swivel sleeve made in two partsand held in position between the transverse bars 7 by means of bolts 44,and 45 designatesa swivel through which the bucket is lifted and whichswivel is rotatable within the swivel sleeve 43 above referred to, thesaid swivel having a longitudinal opening 46 into which the upper end ofthe trip bolt 33 hereinbefore referred to extends and by which the headof said bolt is guided. The swivel in question is provided with a collar47 which contacts with the under side of the swivel sleeve 43, and whichcollar is provided with one or more projections 48, which obviouslyprovided in the swivel sleeve for the purpose of receiving the same. Itfollows, therefore, from this construction that when the latch 35 is inthe disengaging position shown in Fig. 4, the swivel may be moved downwithin its sleeve to bringthe projection or lug 48 out of engagementwith the recess in which it rests, after which the swivel can be rotatedand the projection in question brought into position to engage anotherrecess, the purpose of which is to per mit the bucket to be hoisted andadvanced in four different angular positions with reference to theswivel, the angular position of which remains constant, so that eitherside or either end of the bucket may be made the advancing portion asthe bucket moves along the track provided for it in the building inwhich the materialbeing transported is to be stored.

The swivel 45 and bucket are lifted through a pulley 50 by means of alifting rope 51. The pulley is supported from the swivel through straps52 and in such a way that the axis of the pulley is located slightly tothe right (referring to Fig. 4) of a ver 1;.

tical line passing through the axis of the opening 46.

53 designates a balance rope, the lower end of which is secured in anopening provided in a lug 54, and which opening is to the left of theaxis of the opening 46 in the swivel. This balance rope is provided witha counterbalance 55, see Fig. 2, and the fact that the axis of thepulley is to one side of the axis of the opening 46, and that the v5 1-strain due to the counterbalance acting through the balance rope 53 actsupon the opposite side of said axis, tends to keep the swivel in asingle plane, that is. to prevent the swivel from rotating about avertical 1 axis and insures that the trip lever 35 will move in astraight line during the horizontal travel of the bucket, asdistinguished from perhaps movlng from side to side,

which is a feature ofimportance, as in de vices of the kind to which myinvention relates the trip lever is often operated by a fixed stop whichthe lever might miss if the swivel should rotate as the bucket travelshorizontally. Referring still to Fig. 2, my 1 stored, although the trackand carrier form no part of my present invention. lVhile, as statedabove, the trip lever 35 may be operated by a fixed stop, it may also,and in the drawings in fact is shown as being operated by 'means of arope 58, and upon being operated, the doors 13 open and the contents ofthe bucket are discharged as above explained.

The doors 13 are preferably provided with stiffening bars 59 locatedadjacent their i.

meeting edges so as to keep the bottoms of the doors from sagging, theybeing commcnly made from comparatively thin sheet metal.

While I.illustrate and describe herein a mechanism carrying out theinventive idea in what I believe to be the most suitable form, it is tobe understood that the several parts of the device may be made of anysuitable materials, and the relative sizes and proportions, as well asthe general design of the mechanism, may be varied to a considerableextent without departing from the spirit of the invention hereafterclaimed.

I claim 1. In a hoisting bucket, the combination of a bucket body,lifting means therefor, connections between the lifting means and thebucket comprising a swivel sleeve and a lifting swivel extending throughthe sleeve, the swivel sleeve and swivel being adapted for relativerotary adjustment, and means serving to fix said relatively rotarymembers from rotation.

2. In a hoisting bucket, a swivel sleeve having a plurality of recessesin its lower end, a lifting swivel extending through said sleeve androtatable therein and which sleeve is provided with a lug adapted toenter zny one of the recesses aforesaid; and lifting means operativelyconnected with said swivel.

3. In a hoisting bucket, the combination with a body portion having anopening and closure means for the same, of a vertically movable crosshead; connections between said cross head and said closure means; a tripbolt with which said cross head is connected; a lifting swivel having avertically extending opening into which the upper end of said trip boltextends; lifting means connected with said swivel; and a latch carried,

by said swivel and adapted to engage the upper end of said trip bolt tothereby hold said closure means in closed position.

l. In a hoisting bucket, a lifting swivel having a vertically extendingopening; lifting means operatively connected with said swivel to oneside of the axis of said opening; a lug projecting in the oppositedirection from the axis of said sleeve; a balance rope, one end of whichis connected with said lug; and a counterbalance connected with theother end of said balance rope.

5. In a hoisting bucket, a lifting swivel rotatable about a verticalaxis; a swivel sleeve through which said swivel extends; a liftingpulley operatively connected with said swivel, the axis of said pulleybeing offset to one side of the axis of said swivel; a lug carried bysaid swivel and pro ecting therefrom in a direction opposite to the di-.rection in which the axis of said pulley is offset; a balance rope, oneend of which is secured to said lug; and a counterbalance to which theopposite end of said rope is secured. I

6. In a hoisting bucket, the combination of the bucket body, liftingmeans therefor, a swivel sleeve connected to the bucket, a liftingswivel extending through the sleeve and adapted to be rotated thereinaround a vertical axis, said lifting means being connected to theswivel, and means cooperating with the swivel and the swivel sleeveserving to lock the same from relative rotation around the vertical axisat any desired oints.

7,. In a hoisting bucket, a body portion having an open bottom, closuremeans for the bottom openin a device connected to the closure means tohold the same closed, said device including a vertically movable crosshead, a bar between the cross-head and closure means, an adjustable tripbolt connected to the cross head, a lifting swivel in which said tripbolt is movable vertically and a latch carried by the swivel cooperatingwith said trip bolt.

8. In a hoisting bucket, the combination of a receptacle having anopening, movable means to close said opening, a lifting member connectedto the top of the bucket, de vices extending between the lifting memberand the closing means to hold the latter closed, hoisting meansconnected to the lifting member at one side of the vertical axis thereofand counterbalance means connected to said lifting member on theopposite side of the center thereof.

9. In a hoisting bucket, the combination of a. receptacle body, a swivelsleeve connected to the receptacle, a lifting swivel journaled withinthe sleeve and adapted to move relatively thereto around a verticalaxis, means between the sleeve and the sw'vel to determine a. fixedrelation between them as to rotation, a lifting pulley connected to theswivel, the axis of the pulley being offset to one side of the verticalaxis of the swivel, a lifting rope cooperating with the pulley, andcounterbalance means connected to the swivel on the opposite side of theaxis thereof from the axis of the pulley.

WILLIAM THOMAS.

lVitnesses: I

WV. J. HEMPHILL, JAs. C. RITOHEY.

(topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

